My First Decepticon
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: Everyone remembers the first time they meet one. And for young Annabelle, she certainly will. Of course, when an angry Ironhide gets done with him, I think the Decepticon will never forget the encounter either. One of the "Black Crayons" story.
1. Left Behind

**Another multi-chaptered "Black Crayons" story headed your way. This one has a little less of the "aww…" factor and more of a reminder of why Ironhide is the weapon specialist of the Autobots. Face it, kids get into trouble and need to be rescued. For most, it may be a bully or monsters under the bed that their parents have to protect them from. Annabelle doesn't get things that easy. Set after "Party Time," but check my profile for the entire listing of order.**

**Oh, and Carl will suffer as well. Just because I say he should.**

My First Decepticon

Kindergarten was a whole new experience for the child. She was in a bigger school with older kids in the hallways. In some ways, it was similar to preschool. There was still coloring, games, and recess. But more time was now spent on the alphabet, counting, and learning than before. For Annabelle, it was rather nice. She liked to learn, but she did miss having more drawing time. But when she completed her worksheets, she could still draw on the back.

Ms. Greene, her new teacher, was beginning to exhibit some of the same confusion about the girl's drawings that Mrs. Johnson had before her. The child was resigned to this confusion because she had no intentions of stopping. She could put a black truck in every picture if she wanted to. It was important to her.

One of the nice things about her new class was Suzie was in it. The not so nice thing was so was Carl. Annabelle really didn't like Carl. Between just being a mean bully and what he did at her birthday party that summer, she tried to avoid that boy. If he gave her a good reason, she could always talk to Ironhide… No, she wouldn't do that to him. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment. Not yet.

Recess was nice. Climbing the jungle gym was really great. She was actually pretty good at it. And heights didn't bother her because her best friend, Ironhide, would pick her up way higher than this.

The fire alarms went off suddenly. Several men in uniforms like her Daddy's were urging children onto a bus. Annabelle scrambled down, nearly bumping into Suzie.

"Ms. Greene said something about something really yucky and bad spilled nearby," the pig-tailed girl explained to Annabelle, "So the army men are taking us somewhere else."

"What about Carl?" Annabelle asked. Both girls knew he had found a hole under the fence the other day that he could sneak out to his "secret base" during recess. But the teacher didn't know and neither one wanted to be a tattle-tale. "What if he can't hear it?"

"Don't know," admitted Suzie.

Gaining a determined expression similar to that her parent wore in combat, she declared, "I'll go get him. Just tell Ms. Greene we're in the restroom."

Not waiting for her friend to agree, Annabelle ran for the hole. With the chaos of the evacuation, no one noticed her departure except Suzie. The young Lennox girl dashed into the woods that bordered the school yard. While she didn't know the exact location, she knew the area to check.

* * *

Ironhide, disguised in truck mode, waited patiently as the humans were evacuated from the area. The cover story was a toxic spill in the area that had just occurred. Reality was far worse. Reappearing after all this time in hiding was Barricade. What concerned Ironhide and Lennox both was the proximity of the Decepticon to the civilian area. Specifically, he was too close to Annabelle's school for comfort. But the building had been quickly emptied into buses that even now were being moved to safety.

Another soldier ran over to Lennox and the Cybertronian, his face nervous as he drew near. "Sir, the school and nearby residences have been evacuated, but… two students are unaccounted for. Apparently they were supposed to be in the restroom, but when they had been searched for… nothing." He paused, trying to work up the nerve to finish the report. "One was a boy named Carl Mathews, and the other… Annabelle Lennox."

At these words, both listeners were stunned into silence for one instant. But then, Ironhide revved his engine angrily.

"If that piece of trash Decepticon even… I'll turn him in to scrap metal!" he shouted furiously. "Get in, Lennox!"

The soldier climbed in, ordering, "Epps is in charge. If we see anything, we'll contact you."

No one tried to stop them. No one wanted to be killed in the attempt. And at that point, it was debatable which one would give the worst death: the angry robot or worried father.

* * *

Carl's "secret base," it turned out, was a wooden crate and an old blue tarp. It really wasn't that impressive, but he seemed to like it. Annabelle gave the base a kick, alerting the boy to her presence. He crawled out and fixed her with a glare.

"No girls allowed," he announced, but uneasily in case she tried to attack. Annabelle didn't react like most girls. "Besides, I don't need to be back until the big hand is on the three." He pointed at his watch proudly. "So go away."

"Carl, we need to go," the girl insisted. "All the kids are on buses and army guys showed up. Something bad is happening."

"I'm not going yet," he complained, "It's not time to go yet."

Unable to think of how to convince the boy, she resorted to threats, "I'll tell on you."

"You better not," the boy retorted, but looked uneasy at the thought of the trouble he'd be in.

"Then come on," urged Annabelle, tugging his hand.

The pair dashed back towards the school, but when they reached the playground once more, it was empty. The whole building and surrounding area was completely deserted and eerily quiet. Carl, his freckled face looking nervous, turned to the girl.

"Where is everybody?"

Rolling her eyes in a similar fashion that she had seen Sam do, she answered, "Duh! They left like I said. We missed the bus because you were at your 'secret base.' Now both of us will get in trouble."

"They left us?" the boy whispered, looking upset at the idea. "What do we do?"

Annabelle thought about it carefully. A big, yucky, bad mess was why everyone had to run away. Or at least that was what they said. Daddy once said not to trust everything "people in authority fed to the ignorant masses." Mommy had been mad at that, but did agree sometimes people weren't told everything important. Like Ironhide and his friends. But whatever was happening was a bad problem. Even if it wasn't a yucky mess, someone would be fixing the problem. Grown up people, like police officers or firemen.

"We find a grown-up to help us," she told Carl. "All we have to do is look."

The boy looked unsure about leaving the school grounds to look for help, but when Annabelle explained that since there was no one nearby they had to go somewhere else and they couldn't get in more trouble for leaving school since they already did that, he agreed. They followed the street away from the school, making sure not to walk in the road. Neither one of them saw any cars moving nor any people. The houses were just as empty and quiet as the school. Someone had even left a sprinkler on in their hurry to leave.

The pair of kindergarten kept walking, their footsteps the only real sound to be heard. Even the birds were quiet. Like they were afraid.

Carl suddenly stopped, his hand going to his ear. Annabelle listened carefully as well. A low sound was steadily getting louder. A car engine. Turning, they could spot it coming down the road. A black and white pattern along with a blue and red light on top, though not flashing, identified it to them as a police car. Mommy, Daddy, and even teachers had always said policemen are good guys and to trust them. In fact, one of those important lessons drilled into every young mind is that, even if they aren't supposed to talk to strangers, police aren't really strangers and to always look for one if they got lost. Carl began waving his arms frantically at the police car.

It began to slow.

**Cliffhanger!!! And those of you concerned parents/skeptical people that can't believe that a pair of kindergartens could both sneak off the school grounds at recess and get left behind during an emergency evacuation, sorry to inform you that it isn't completely unfeasible in my opinion. When you have at least three separate classes of kindergarten kids running around, it is possible to miss one or two as long as they show back up on time and this vanishing doesn't happen too often. Thus Carl, who has had his "secret base" for less than a week, has been able to get away with it for now. Next, you've seen enough disaster movies to know that sometimes people get left behind. So there. **

**Next time, Barricade vs. children. And he will not like the results of threatening them one bit.**


	2. Meeting

**Sorry to leave you hanging, but I figured that it would build suspense. (And I was busy with other things too.) So now we get back to the story. **

"I guarantee, this is that _boy's_ fault," Ironhide growled as he drove through the streets. "I knew he was trouble. He's practically the spawn of Starscream. I should have blasted him to pieces when I had the chance."

Lennox, who wasn't quite at the stage that he was threatening five year olds, tried to reason, "There is no evidence they've run into the Decepticon. We could easily find them first. Annabelle and Carl could be perfectly safe right now."

The Autobot, hoping the man was right but fearing for his favorite little girl, sighed, "Maybe. But if that Decepticon has gone near them, I'll turn him into a pile of scrap metal."

* * *

Barricade was on the run, trapped by the human insects blocking the area off. The irony of the barricade eluded Barricade. He had been avoiding detection so long, even to the extent of missing the battle in Egypt because he had no way to get there discretely in time. Then, he sped through one traffic light and the stupid security camera caught sight of his license plate. The result is the confounded N.E.S.T. matched it to his known alt-mode. Now those puny organic beings armed with semi-effective weapons against Cybertronians and whichever Autobot scum chose to assist them were trying to corner him.

As he roared down the road, he spotted two tiny shapes by the side. Disgusting human younglings waving at him. One seemed to be a female and the other a male of their species. His form of a police vehicle inspired trust from the insects and did so with the small creatures. Suddenly, Barricade had a brilliant idea.

Autobots had an unnatural affection for this weak species. And humans seemed to care about their younglings. If he captured these two, he could use them to bargain for his freedom. They would do whatever he wanted for the safety of these two insects. Barricade could even kill the spare one to demonstrate how serious he was. It was perfect.

He slowed down as he approached the younglings. They greeted his arrival with complete confidence. He knew that would not last long once he regains his true form.

* * *

When the police car had stopped, Annabelle noticed something odd. Even with the glare of the sun on the windshield, she could still tell there wasn't a driver in the vehicle. Carl seemed to have missed this fact and probably wouldn't know what to think anyway. She knew what the car really was and this fact was quickly confirmed.

With an all too familiar sound, the vehicle shifted and changed. Metal moved independently and the four wheeled shape became a bipedal figure. Towering over the pair, the Cybertronian turned his blood-red gaze down to the young humans.

Carl, being stared at by a giant robotic monster, started crying. He was completely terrified of the creature before him. Even his worst nightmares had not prepared the kindergartener for transforming police cars with such malice in their expression. He couldn't even run away. He was frozen to the spot by his fear.

Annabelle tilted her head curiously. The robot before her looked a little bit like the Autobots did, but not quite. This one was less smooth and reassuring in appearance. His bright red eyes reminded her Wheelie's. She had been upset by the tiny Cybertronian at the time, but she wasn't sure if this one would turn out to be as harmless. His presence was not nearly as comforting as Ironhide's or Bumblebee. Still, after her overreaction to Wheelie, she felt she had to give him a chance.

Over the summer, with much pleading and begging, Ironhide had relented to teaching her a few Cybertronian phrases. After the whole "slag" problem with her parents, it was nice to learn some she wouldn't get in trouble for. Some of it was hard to say, but she was getting better. Considering that the new robot may not speak English, the little girl decided to use the universal greeting. She liked that phrase because it was easy and fun to say.

"Bah wheep grana wheep ninny bahn," she called in a friendly manner.

The robot tilted his head and Annabelle recognized a look of complete confusion that filled his features.

* * *

Barricade was mildly surprised as he first transformed. The young male organic was responding in the expected fashion, but the female was not. She did not display an appropriate amount of fear associated with the initial encounter with a Cybertronian. On the other servo, she did not have the more controlled fear of one who knows of the Decepticons, like the soldiers would display. The female youngling was not afraid because she did not what he was capable of nor was she afraid because she knew exactly what he was capable of. All she was registering as was a slight nervousness.

Barricade was completely stunned when she began to speak. Instead of addressing him in one of their primitive dialects, she used the universal greeting on him. Her knowledge of the Cybertronian language only deepened the mystery. It was possible she could have picked it up from some pathetic Autobot, but if she had met one, she would still be afraid of him. The Autobot would have warned their organic pets of the noble Decepticons' presence on this miserable rock of a world.

After her greeting was met with silence, she tried again to engage him in conversation. Her puny voice called out a series of clicks, squeals, and other sounds. The male youngling was staring at her in confusion and mild fear. Barricade felt even more confused. Though her accent was atrocious and her phrasing poor, she was clearly speaking rudimentary Cybertronian.

"Who you? Friend or foe? Speak human, please?"

"Insect," he shouted in English, his volume causing both younglings to flinch. "Who taught you to soil our native language with your hideous voice? Answer or your destruction will be slow and merciless."

The male youngling was cowering behind his companion now, his terror only increased by the robot's words. The female looked less confident now, but her optics stared back into Barricade's own. A hint of fear now haunted her expression, but nowhere near the boy's.

"Carl," she whispered, clearly addressing the other youngling, "Run back to the 'secret base' and hide. He's a bad robot."

Barricade's audio receptors caught the term "secret base" clearly and he wondered if she meant the Autobots' base. If so, these two were definitely worth more alive than dead. He could still use one to bargain for his freedom and keep the other for questioning. The female seemed to hold the most answers.

Suddenly, just as she had told him to, the male youngling, "Carl," began to run away from the Decepticon. But more surprising was the girl begun to run as well. Towards Barricade. Planning to simply catch the female first, he shot out a servo to intercept her course. She twisted around, changing direction unexpectedly and unpredictably. Though her speed was not nearly as great as some humans he had tried to capture before (like that Witwicky boy), her maneuvers were completely random. In his efforts to grab the girl, the boy escaped. Now Barricade was becoming infuriated with the tiny human insect.

* * *

Tag was always fun with Ironhide. Of course, she could never out-run him. But if she was goofy and silly, she could dodge him. Especially up-close. Annabelle was doing the same thing now, changing directions suddenly and getting close to the mean robot. That way, he couldn't grab her easily. When she was really near him, she could get behind or under him. Then the giant Cybertronian would be in his own way about trying to snatch her up.

Carl had run away like she told him to. He was scared of the metallic alien car and she didn't mind him leaving her. It was after all, a bad robot. One who was mean and tried to hurt people. The red-headed boy was better off away from him. Annabelle, while scared of the giant meanie, knew one thing the boy didn't.

Daddy and Ironhide stopped bad robots. It was their job. And they would come for this one too.

**Another chapter down. And more to go. If you haven't noticed, the terminology used varies depending on who's view is being described (like Cybertronian say optics while humans say eye, though Ironhide and the Autobots are beginning to use human terms more regularly than the Decepticons). I hope you are enjoying the story. Because Ironhide is on his way. Poor Barricade doesn't know what he's in for.**


	3. Conflict

**Ready? Here we go. Another chapter coming up for all your reading pleasure. Beware, Barricade will be his evil Decepticon self and Ironhide is going to be completely furious at him. Watch out…**

"The Decepticon is nearby," Ironhide suddenly answered, screeching to a halt.

Lennox jumped out of the cab of the truck, weapon in hand. "Do you know if Annabelle is close?"

The truck changed quickly to a very agitated Ironhide. His cannons whirled in a very threatening manner. His expression was dark and promised no good for any Decepticon who crossed his path.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," he growled. "And Primus help him if she is."

The two soldiers slowly edged around the corner. A white house with a picket fence hid them from view. Down the street, a metallic shape had its back to them. His black and white coloring, along with the earlier reports, identified this robot as the Decepticon Barricade who had taken on the form of a police car. Lennox had been impressed at the ingeniousness of selecting one of the most trusted vehicles on the road. Now, it disgusted him.

What was even more shocking and frightening was the presence of children. Carl, his distinctive red hair easily identifying him, was running away from Barricade. Smart move. Annabelle, the sweet friendly child, was heading for the malicious Cybertronian at full speed. The kids' presence prevented either of the concerned soldiers from opening fire. They could be hit in the cross-fire or crushed.

Lennox yanked out his radio and began to hurriedly whisper, "This is Major Lennox. The target has been sighted and the presence of civilians in the vicinity is confirmed. Our coordinates are…" He trailed off suddenly as Barricade lowered his hand to grab the girl.

As the girl effortlessly dodged the grasp of the Decepticon and continued her random maneuvers, Ironhide muttered, "Tag. She's playing tag with a Decepticon. And winning." He slowly pulled back out of sight and began to go around the building with Lennox following behind him. In a frightening voice, he snarled, "Alright Barricade. Let's play."

* * *

Insects. Crawling and scurrying around him. He could have squashed her underfoot at this range if he didn't want her alive. Maybe not. The human youngling was so sporadic and illogical, who could predict her next step? Half the time, he couldn't see her because she was too close underneath him or behind a servo. But she was slowing, her breaths becoming tired pants. Barricade knew that soon he could grab her. And with the loss of the male organic, she remained his only bargaining tool.

Suddenly, one of his attempts to catch the youngling was successful. His metallic digits had closed around her tiny form. Yanking her up for a closer inspection, he glared at her with cold fury. This small insect had caused him so much confusion and frustration. Now, he could see a reasonable amount of fear; her little organic optics spilling over with transparent fluids. Disgusting.

"Tell me, human," he snapped at her, his voice laced with hate and annoyance. "Give me one good reason not to end your miserable existence right now." He shook her as emphasis, though he did plan to keep her alive for as long as he could use her. Maybe she would reveal some useful fact in hopes of preserving her life. "Speak, human!"

The youngling sniffed slightly. Her face, before so friendly, now had a pleasing expression of distrust. After a while, she gave a surprisingly furious look of her own. Her glare lacked any intimidation for the Cybertronian, but she met his crimson optics dead on.

"My name is Annabelle. And you're a big mean bully. You just act tough when you can scare people. Like Carl does. But if someone isn't scared, you don't know what to do. You have to stand up to bullies or else they always will pick on you," she was shaking, but her voice was firm. For no reason that Barricade could see, the tiny organic began to smile. "And bullies get in trouble. Cause good guys stop them."

The female youngling's quaint speech might have been more impressive if she was not held in his tight grasp. Barricade laughed at the small organic's courage. But she had not revealed anything useful yet. The Decepticon held her closer to his face.

"Who will stop me?" he asked mockingly. "You?"

"No," a scarily furious voice answered from behind. "Me."

* * *

Ironhide and Lennox had circled around the Decepticon, using various houses as cover. They had to be careful or else they could cause Barricade to react badly. The Decepticon could crush, smash, or kill Annabelle on purpose or accident. The thought infuriated Ironhide because he couldn't just run straight towards the monster, cannons blazing away. The first priority was to get her away and somewhere safe. Then Barricade could be reduced to a pile of scrap metal.

With only one brick house between them and the Decepticon, Lennox and Ironhide peered around at their quarry. Circumstances had worsened quickly. The tiny form of Annabelle was in the grip of the violent Barricade. Ironhide stared in horror as his sweet Annabelle was held by the blood-thirsty Decepticon. Her face was red with crying, she looked so helpless. But she was shouting back at those glowing optics, refusing to be "bullied" by the monsterous Cybertronian.

"That's my youngling," Ironhide thought, edging out and towards the unsuspecting Decepticon.

She caught sight of the weapon specialist and gave a relieved smile to him. Ironhide moved directly behind the oblivious Barricade who, if he wasn't so concerned with terrorizing a little girl, should have been able to sense the angry Autobot.

"Who can stop me?" the transformed police car questioned the child in his grip, "You?"

Ironhide, recognizing a cue when he heard it, growled, "No, me."

Hearing the unexpected voice, Barricade tried to turn around. The Autobot didn't let him. Grabbing the Decepticon's right servo, the one holding Annabelle, he slammed his other fist into the surprised robot's face. The shock, along with the blow, caused his grip to relax for an instant on the child. Long enough for her favorite Cybertronian to grab her instead.

"Ironhide!" the girl shouted, her voice so relieved and grateful. The weapon specialist wanted to hold onto her for a moment more and assure she was safe now. But he had other business to finish and the child's next words only proved that point. "He's a bad robot."

Setting her quickly to the ground where Lennox ran over to her, Ironhide took another swing at Barricade. The Decepticon, who had recovered from the earlier surprise and punch, dodged it. But he was forced back and away from the humans. Which gave Ironhide more room to fight.

Fueled by his complete fury at the Decepticon for threatening Annabelle along with usual trigger-happy nature, the weapon specialist began to alternate between cannon blasts and physical blows. With all the rage Ironhide felt about what could have happened to the child, he wouldn't be surprised if he bore a scary resemblance to Megatron. He barely noticed when the other soldiers, summoned by Lennox's earlier call, began shooting at the vastly out-matched Barricade. Between Ironhide and the sabot-rounds, that particular Decepticon was looking the worse for wear.

Huge dents and ugly scratches riddled his body. Black burn marks from cannons blast decorated his left shoulder. Blood-red optics stared at Ironhide in anger and even a little fear. Barricade finally spat out a hateful remark.

"Fine, keep the puny insect. I don't care. I should have smashed her when I had the chance."

Ironhide's answer was cold and matter of fact. "If any of you Decepti-creeps should even think of touching her again, I'll off-line you in the most painful way I can devise."

A couple of the human soldiers looked at him oddly. They were used to him threatening and insulting Decepticons in the heat of battle, but they had never seen the Cybertronian with this much pure hate before. Not for the first time, they were extremely glad Ironhide was on their side.

* * *

Barricade realized that somehow he had pushed the weapon specialist too far with the threat to the youngling. He didn't know if it was this female particularly or just younglings in general, but attacking her had made the Decepticon on to Ironhide's "Must completely destroy as soon as possible" list. And no one with any sense wants to have an extremely upset Ironhide after them for revenge.

The Decepticon quickly changed into his police car form and hit the acceleration. He looked like he had suffered a series of very bad car crashes, but he didn't care. He would rather take his chances busting through the barricade than to remain near the seriously antagonized Autobot. As he sped away at an excess of 150 mph, Barricade carefully committed to memory the youngling's appearance and silently promised himself to never get near her again.

**This is not the end. I still have to wrap things up with everyone. So I will have one more chapter. After all, aren't you wondering what's going on with Carl? Or do you not care about that bully? Well, until next time… **


	4. Afterwards

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Summer job, life, you know the deal… And I needed to find a way to finish it off well. I take care of the whole "Carl saw giant robots" problem and get everything back to normal. Or at least as normal as it gets when you're dealing with Cybertronians. **

Annabelle covered her ears as her daddy carried her away from the towering robots. Ironhide was really mad at the bad one. She flinched as he unleashed his cannons with a loud blast. Other people with uniforms like Daddy ran by carrying other weapons and those explosions were added to the noise. Her parent ran until there was a good distance between her and the fight before setting her down.

"Annabelle, sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked her, checking her over as he talked. "You scared me and Ironhide to death. Why weren't you and Carl on the buses getting out of here?"

Sniffling still, she was calming down now that her daddy and Ironhide had shown up. As long as they were here, everything would be fine. Ironhide was already smashing the bad robot for scaring her and being mean. Nothing could beat him. She had never seen him stop a bad robot before, but she knew that he could do it better than anyone else except maybe Daddy. Annabelle knew she was completely safe now.

"Carl was at his 'secret base,' even if he wasn't supposed to be, and didn't know we were leaving," the girl tried to explain. "So I went to get him, but everyone was gone when we got back."

"I knew it was that boy's fault," muttered Ironhide, joining them since Barricade had made his cowardly retreat. Annabelle looked up at her metallic friend, so relieved that he had saved her. "Did I not state it would be his doing, Will?"

"Ironhide!" she called, reaching up towards him. He obeyed her silent request and picked her up. Even if it was awkward to manage because of his size and the fact he was made of inflexible metal, the girl gave him the best hug she could manage. "You and Daddy stopped the bad robot and made him go away. I knew you would. He was a big mean bully. Thank you for saving me and beating up the bad guy."

The weapon specialist, relieved beyond words that the small child was unharmed, answered simply, "Of course we would save you, Annabelle. And if a Decepticon even thinks of coming near you again, I'll blast him into a thousand tiny pieces. And not even Ratchet would be able to put him back together again."

"Like Humpty Dumpty," she added.

Daddy, hugging his daughter when Ironhide lowered her once more, dryly commented, "Mommy's going to kill us for letting this happen to you, sweetheart. And she's going to be even scarier than Barricade was."

"I'll protect you and Ironhide," Annabelle promised. "It's not your fault that a bad robot showed up."

* * *

Carl sat, huddled inside his "secret base," and listened for the approach of monsters. The car had turned into something evil and scary. Then Annabelle started… acting weird. She had been… talking to it. Then she told him to run because it was "a bad robot." The red-head shuddered. He was too afraid to think of anything. His mind just kept flashing back to the terrifying image of a police car becoming that nightmare.

A nightmare. Maybe all this was one big nightmare. All his stories of monsters and aliens were beginning to scare even him. The five year old scrunched his eyes shut tight, praying to wake up.

Suddenly, a rhythmic crunching sound of twigs snapping and leaves trodden underfoot caught the child's attention. Someone was coming. He let out an involuntary squeak of fear as he pressed himself harder against the back of the base. The footsteps stopped suddenly and the blue tarp was lifted up. A happily human face peered in towards the boy's freckled one.

"Hi Carl," the man smiled soothingly. "I'm a friend of Annabelle's dad. You can call me Epps. We've been looking for you."

The boy crawled out quickly to the soldier. He started stammering about his secret base, cars, how much trouble he was going to be in, and bad robots. Epps tried to calm the child and explain.

"You won't get in trouble. Everyone is too worried about you to bother with that right now. And the toxic spill can have some strange reactions in the air. They can cause hallucinations." Seeing that Carl had no clue what that meant, he clarified, "It can give you nightmares when you're awake."

Carl, seeing a sign of hope, asked, "It wasn't real? The changing car? Annabelle talking robot? Any of it?"

"Don't worry, kid. No bad robots are out to get you," he answered. "Now, everyone is worried about you. Let's get you back."

* * *

"So Carl thinks it was a bad dream?" asked Annabelle, tilting her head curiously.

Lennox nodded to his daughter as he helped her into Ironhide's cab. The transformed Cybertronian was considering never letting her out again. She didn't realize how close that Barricade had been to… The Autobot couldn't even consider it. She was such a sweet innocent child and she had encountered that monster, alone and unprotected. What if she had meet one of the other Decepticons? Like Starscream? Or Megatron?! Annabelle wouldn't have been alive by the time he found her.

Lennox explained, "It will be easier on him to think that. And if he does talk about Barricade, everyone else will think it was just part of a hallucination caused by the toxic spill. Hopefully, he'll put it all behind him in time and forget about it as he gets older."

"I don't think he could forget," Annabelle commented slowly. "But he won't talk about it much either." The bright little girl enlightened them. "He likes to scare everyone and look tough. If he says he saw a monster and ran away, he won't be able to anymore. All his friends will think he is a scaredy-cat. And he won't lie and say he didn't run away because I saw him. If he lies, I can call him a liar-liar, pants-on-fire and make him look like a big dummy. He won't talk."

Ironhide, while not the most familiar with some of the odder phrases she used to explain, realized his favorite little human girl was completely right. Carl, in some ways, was like Starscream: brave when he could win, but retreating when he would lose. But the seeker would never allow himself to be considered a coward. He would arrange it so the event would spin to his advantage. Thus, Carl would avoid the topic unless he was guaranteed to be able to use the encounter to raise his status in the kindergarten hierarchy.

"That boy _is_ practically the spawn of Starscream," he silently mused to himself.

Annabelle, using her best grin, innocently asked, "Can we stop for ice cream on the way home? Please? I promise not to drip it on you, Ironhide. Please?"

Lennox chuckled softly, "The young really bounce back fast from stuff, don't they?"

"After today," Ironhide pointed out, not usually one to approve of the sugary dairy product because of its low nutritional value and mess, "she does deserve a reward."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to explain to Sarah yet," the man accused. "And because Annabelle has you wrapped around her finger, you big softie."

The Cybertronian couldn't deny any part of the statement. He would do anything for that child, from help her convince her father to allow ice cream to fight an army of Decepticons to protect her. And an angry Mrs. Lennox was right up there on things that he would rather not face if he could avoid it. So a stop on the way back to the Lennox residence would be welcomed.

**And that's the end. Hope you liked it. A few more 'fuzzy-feelings' moments in this chapter than the others. And Carl is likely to have a few problems for a while, but hopefully he can eventually put it off as one big nightmare. I hope you liked this more action-y "Black Crayons" story. It was rather different in style than the others, but it was fun. Thanks for all the reviews.**


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